


Family Fun

by supremegreendragon



Category: Rick and Morty
Genre: De-aged Morty, De-aged Summer, Drabbles, Family Bonding, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Language, No Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-16 01:41:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28948356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/supremegreendragon/pseuds/supremegreendragon
Summary: Just some drabbles of Rick being a grandpa to 3 year old Morty and 5 year old Summer
Relationships: Rick Sanchez & Morty Smith, Rick Sanchez & Summer Smith
Comments: 36
Kudos: 32





	1. Chapter 1

Beth gave Rick one last worried look. She was right in front of the door, while Jerry was already in the car. Rick had come to see her off, as well as make sure she didn’t change her mind at the last second. He wanted her to have this date. Not because he wanted to encourage her crummy relationship with Jerry, but because he wanted her to turn off ‘Mommy’ mode, if even for a few hours.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay? They’re a handful, especially at their age.”

“Sweetie, I’ve dealt with wild pigs pouring poison from their snouts while trying to eat me alive with 4-inch fangs. I got this.”

She looked at him for a moment, before shrugging her purse over her shoulders.

“If you’re sure, Dad—”

“Of course. Have a good time. And don’t worry. I can handle a few snot-nose ankle-biters for the evening.”

Summer came running down the stairs. The five-year-old grabbed hold of Beth’s leg.

“Mommy! Morty is watching a Youtuber that says bad words.”

“Oh, fucking hell, Summer. Don’t be a snitch,” Rick scolded. Beth snapped her head up at him and glared.

“DAD!”

Rick rolled his eyes, before setting his sights on his granddaughter, “Listen. Get your brother and we’ll watch a family friendly movie.”

“…And watch your language,” Beth told Rick, “The children are very impressionable.”

“Alright, honey. I got it.”

Beth eased up and smiled, kissing Summer on the forehead before walking out the door. Summer went to get Morty. Meanwhile, Rick configured the settings on his intergalactic tv. By the time his grandchildren came to the couch, he already had a bowl of popcorn ready.

Morty was carrying some superhero doll in his arms, clutching it tightly. He looked at Rick with big brown eyes.

“I wanna watch Vindicators.”

“No!” Summer yelled, “Tinkles the Magic Unicorn!”

Rick was about to say “Fuck that” when he remembered the rules Beth set for him. So instead, he said, “Heck no. We’re watching something everyone will like.”

“Land Before Time?”

“Toy Story?”

“Nope,” Rick held out the remote and smiled, “Back to the Future.”

Summer frowned, “That’s a dumb old people movie.”

“Dumb and old,” Morty mimicked as a way of agreeing.

“You two sit your butts down and eat your popcorn. I refuse to hear any complaining.”

“But it’s dumb and old!” Summer repeated.

“Have you even watched it?”

“No. But I know it’s stupid. It’s not even a cartoon.”

Morty was in parrot mode, “Not even a cartoon.”

Rick brought Morty in his lap. Then he patted a seat next to him, hinting that Summer better shape up and join them. She did. But she pouted the whole way. Rick suddenly pulled out two chocolate bars, catching his grandkid’s attention in an instant.

“Stop complaining and I’ll give this to you.”

“Wow, grandpa. Thanks!”

“Thanks, Rick,” Morty said.

With their face stuffed with candy, Rick didn’t have to hear their bellyaching for a while. During the movie, when she was done with her bar, Summer suddenly stated, “Doc is a lot like you, grandpa.”

“Huh…You think? I don’t know about that, Summer,” Rick stated. He could see the resemblance somewhat, being both old scientists. But Doc’s character was far too pure hearted to be relatable for him.

“And Marty sounds like Morty.”

Morty turned to his sister in confusion, blinking. He still had half his bar left, although it looked like most of what he ate so far was on his face.

Rick chuckled, “Yep. He’s just one letter away from being a rebel teen that hates the word ‘chicken.’”

“I like chicken,” Morty insisted as if Rick was claiming otherwise.

They continued to watch. Rick could tell that Summer was stewing over something. The more of the movie she witnessed, the more she looked back at Rick and Morty. Finally, Rick couldn’t take it.

“Summer, geeze! Take a picture. It will last longer. What is it about me and Morty that’s suddenly so interesting?”

“You’re the same as them,” the toddler said.

Rick arched a brow at his granddaughter. Summer seemed very serious and Rick could tell that her overactive imagination was getting the better of her again. She looked between him and Morty, her mind made up.

“You’re the same as Doc and Marty.”

“Okay, Summer. Sure thing,” Rick laughed.

Morty turned up to his grandfather, “Take me on a ‘venture….”

“See? He wants an adventure. You need to do it. Because you’re the same.”

“Listen, kids. Your grandpa hates dealing with time-travel. It’s way too messy. So no. I won’t take Morty thirty years into the past, if that’s what you’re asking me to do.”

Suddenly, Morty looked very sad. Rick hated to admit that it made him feel the slightest bit guilty. He loved his grandchildren and hated to disappoint them. Even though he pretended not to care, in reality, he’d do anything for them. If they asked for the moon, he would give it to them, knowing it was well within his ability.

Fuck. He had become one of those grandparents that spoil they hell out of their grandkids.

“Then take him to a planet. And me. Take me too. We wanna have an adventure,” Summer said.

Oh boy. These kids were getting weird ideas from this movie. Rick suddenly realized what Beth meant by them being impressionable. This movie was a mistake.

He turned it off, “Okay, new plan. We’re watching Toy Story.”

Summer and Morty smiled at this.


	2. Chapter 2

Rick didn’t care what Jerry’s unemployed ass thought of him. But after hearing the man complain about Rick’s presence for days, Rick needed an excuse to get out of the house. He told Jerry he was going to get the groceries. Summer and Morty wanted to come and Jerry, seeing this as an opportunity to be lazy for the next few hours, pawned them off to Rick.

So now he was here with his grandchildren. Summer sticking close by, while Morty sat in the child seat that the shopping cart provided. Morty watched in fascination as Rick placed a stack of cola behind him. The three-year-old grabbed onto a box of poptarts while they were walking by. Rick chose to stay quiet, instead of telling him to put it back.

Big mistake.

Summer noticed that Rick was letting him keep the food of his choice. She went and grabbed some pink sugary cereal off the shelves. Rick slapped his forehead.

“Alright. Put them back. Both of you,” he yanked the poptarts from Morty’s hand and set them back. When he looked down at Summer, he noticed her glaring in defiance.

“But it’s not fair!”

“Cry to your mom about it later. Tell her how mean grandpa is,” Rick said, “I didn’t bring you guys so you can beg for junk food.”

He happened to glance away when Summer stuck her tongue at him. She probably thought he didn’t catch it. He withheld a smirk, finding it funny that she attempted to insult him without his knowledge. It reminded him of when Beth would roll her eyes when she thought he wasn’t looking.

They continued with their quest. Rick kept a mental list of what they would all need, taking into account the dinners the family wanted to make for the week. Knowing it was about time for that one casserole of Beth’s, he put some frozen peas in the cart. Morty made a face.

Rick chuckled, “What? Too good for legumes, are we? I bet you wouldn’t complain if they were dunk in chocolate sauce.”

“Ew..That’s growse,” Morty said.

“Don’t try to fool me, kid. I’ve seen the stuff you poured chocolate sauce on. Like your fried chicken.”

“I like chicken,” Morty insisted. Rick just laughed at that, but his laughter stopped short when he noticed something in the cart. It was a bag of candy that he knew he didn’t put in there before.

He pulled it out and looked at it, then turned to Summer who tried to look as innocent as possible. Clever kid, Rick thought to himself. 5 years old and she already figured out how to pull a fast one on him while he was distracted.

An idea sprang to Rick’s mind. He shrugged his shoulders, “I don’t think I put this here. I wonder who did?”

“I don’t know,” Summer shrugged, pretending not to care.

“Do you know, Morty?” Rick looked at him. He knew that Morty must’ve noticed from where he was sitting. Now he wanted to see what Morty would do. Would he tattle-tell?

Morty paused, then said, “I put it there.”

So, he wanted to take the rap for his sister? That was endearingly heroic. Before Rick could respond, Summer suddenly sprang to life.

“No. It was me, grandpa! Morty had nothing to do with it.”

Morty paled, realizing that his sister was about to get into trouble. He said, “No! It was me.”

“Me!”

“Me!”

“ **ME!”**

**“** Kids KIDS!” Rick barked, shutting them up immediately, “If you both wanna get in trouble that badly, then I’ll blame both of you, alright.”

Summer and Morty frowned. Rick suddenly beamed down at them with pride.

“Well. I’m glad to know if you two ever get into any real trouble, you won’t sell each other out. Alright, screw it. You two can each pick out something you want. Just make sure not to tell your dumb dad, ok?”


	3. Chapter 3

Summer knew she would get in trouble later. She would probably get into big, big trouble, in fact. But it would all be worth it when she shut her classmates up.

Miss Palmer sat behind her desk in front of the room, listening as David showed off his favorite watch. Summer was bored. It was the third time in a row that he used that for show-and-tell. She lit up as soon as David was through and Miss Palmer addressed her.

“Next we have Summer. Why don’t you show us what you brought and talk about it?”

Summer did her best to hide her excited smile. She clutched onto her bag, making sure no one could so much as get a peek until she was ready for them to see. All eyes were on her as she held out her little pink bag in front of her.

She looked at Trevor in the eye. He was the one who gave her the hardest time when she bragged about her grandfather’s achievements. It was thanks to him that the whole class thought she was a liar.

_No one can go to the moon in a couple of seconds,_ he told her with a sneer, _You’re just making it up for attention. Your family must be super boring._

She pulled out the gun from her bag, ready to show them all. The kids in her class were all transfixed on the weird looking device, its green ooze showing through a glass ball.

“Cool! Where did you get that neat toy?” Stacia asked.

“It is not a toy!” Summer scolded her, “It’s a real portal gun. My grandpa uses it to go anywhere he wants. It lets him teleport anywhere. I told you he was a genius, guys!”

The class only stared, unsure of what to believe. Finally, Trevor let out a laugh.

“Ha! You can’t trick us. We know no one can teleport. That’s just a toy.”

“Yeah,” the classroom mimicked. They always did rely on Trevor to do the thinking for them.

Summer’s face heated up, angry at not being believed yet again. She was determined to show them all. Remembering how Grandpa Rick always did it, she aimed the gun at the wall.

“I’ll show you! It will make a portal and then I’ll go somewhere. Then you’ll believe me!’

Click. The portal gun did nothing. Summer made a horrified noise when she clicked again and again, but no portal came out. She felt the eyes of her classmates judging her.

Miss Palmer must’ve caught onto the tension, for she was quick to de-escalate the situation.

“Well now. Thank you for showing us something your grandpa made, Summer. It’s always nice to share what our family members like to do too.”

Summer took that as her cue to sit down. She all too quickly rushed back to her seat; her face filled with shame.

At the end of the day, Summer was finishing up her cookies and juice. She had to overhear Trevor go on and on about how much of a liar she was. Summer did her best to ignore him.

A few kids wanted to play with the gun. Summer let them borrow it for their ‘space adventures.’ It wasn’t like the dumb thing worked anyway.

Maybe Summer wasn’t old enough to know how to use it? She wanted to ask Grandpa Rick, but if she did that, he would figure out that she took it without his permission. And now that her plan to prove his genius had failed, she didn’t want to get into trouble on top of that.

It was the time of day where parents began coming one-by-one to retrieve the kids. When the door knocked, Miss Palmer let Rick inside. The teacher looked perplexed by his appearance: his unkept hair and scientist coat. But she politely kept her comments to herself. Morty was already with Rick, his small body not even reaching his knee.

Summer blurted out, “Grandpa Rick? Where’s Dad?” Because that was who usually came to pick them up. Her eyes swept across the room, where the two kids were still playing with the portal gun. Had Rick already seen it?

“He’s off having himself another interview. So, I’m here to pick you up instead.”

“Are you Mr. Sanchez?” Miss Palmer caught his attention. She beamed down at Summer with pride, “Summer here really looks up to you. She tells me you’re a scientist.”

Rick put his hands in his pocket, “Yeah. Something like that.”

“Well, it’s always good to get kids interested in science early on. You sound like a good influence, Mr. Sanchez.”

Rick didn’t seem to believe her words, but he chose not to argue. He was clearly flustered, not used to such genuine praise coming from a stranger. Morty latched onto his pant leg and yanked for attention.

“I wanna play with the toys here.”

“We got plenty of toys at home. And anything they have here I can just make for you,” Rick turned to Summer, “We should get going.”

“Wait, Summer. Don’t forget your toy. Steve. Marshall. Give Summer her toy gun back,” Miss Palmer instructed.

Summer tensed up as her classmates arrived with the object she stole from Rick. Instead of being angry like she feared, Rick only gave her a knowing smirk, before grabbing the gun.

“That’s where that went. So, you took my things without asking, eh Summer?”

“I..people don’t believe me about what you can do.”

Rick shrugged, “Who cares what they think?”

“I do!” Summer blurted out.

Morty could see his sister was in distress. He gave her an awkward hug. Summer didn’t even care that Trevor was watching, silently making fun of her for accepting a hug from her brother.

Rick turned to Miss Palmer, “She showed this off or something?”

“For show-and-tell. But she did not tell me that she didn’t ask to have it,” Miss Palmer stared pointedly at Summer, “You should apologize to your grandpa.”

“I’m sorry,” Summer’s face was heated up with shame. Today felt like the worst day of her life.

Rick chuckled, “This is why I put child-safety locks on all my inventions. Don’t know whose grabby hands will come steal my shi---my stuff,” he corrected himself as soon as he remembered he was in a kindergarten classroom.

“Child-safety lock, Mr. Sanchez? I thought it was just a toy.”

“Oh no, Miss Palmer. This portal gun here is the real deal,” Rick made sure the whole class was watching him wave the gun around as he spoke. Trevor’s jaw dropped, “But kids, you know….they don’t know how anything about navigating the dimensional plane. Summer could’ve accidentally teleported herself into outer space. So yeah….that’s why I have the child-safety on. Only I can use it,” and with that, he pointed the gun. Out came a thick green portal. The audience was speechless, Trevor included. Summer smirked at him, while Rick put his hand on her shoulder, escorting her through it, “Come on, kids. This will save us a few steps to the ship.”


	4. Chapter 4

With a smile, Jerry tucked his son into his superhero themed covers. Beth was in the other room helping Summer to bed. Which gave Jerry time alone with his little man.

With an etch of worry on his tiny face, Morty nodded toward the Supernova figurine that served as a nightlight. Jerry turned it on, letting the purple light shine on Morty’s face.

“How’s he supposed to sleep with that dumb light blinding him, Jerry?” Rick’s voice came from behind him.

Jerry glared at his father-in-law, who leaned by the doorway with an arch brow. No doubt he just come to judge him on his poor father skills. It had become a normal routine for them. Jerry would be minding his own business, Rick would ridicule him and then they would argue. Beth always told Jerry to ignore it. She always sided with Rick.

Despite telling himself he wouldn’t argue, Jerry blurted out the words to his defense, “He can’t sleep _without_ it on, Rick. The dark scares him.”

Rick turned to Morty and said with an endearingly soft voice, “You’re scared of the dark, buddy?”

“Monsters come out….” Morty mumbled.

“Morty, even if there were monsters in your room, a dumb light won’t scare them away.”

“Don’t tell him that! Shut up,” Jerry frowned.

But it was too late. Morty, who had been relaxing in his bed, ready to sleep, shot out of his covers. He looked ready to start sprinting into any random direction in hopes of saving himself. Jerry sent Rick a glare.

“Now look what you did.”

“I’m just being practical.”

“You’re being a practical pain in the ass.”

“Good one, Jerry. You must’ve spent weeks coming up with predicable comebacks like that. But you really should focus your efforts on getting a job.”

“Beth!” Jerry screamed to usher her in. Rick gave him an angry look, before leaving the room.

“This ain’t over, Jerry,” he said. He clearly didn’t want to get into trouble with Beth tonight. Jerry smirked to himself. At least Beth can keep her father in line. Somewhat.

He turned to where Morty was shivering. The boy held up the covers over his torso like he was trying to use it as a shield. Jerry scratched the back of his head.

“Um….don’t listen to grandpa. Superstar will keep you safe.”

“Supernova,” Morty corrected. His eyes pleaded with Jerry, “Don’t go.”

_Way to go, Rick,_ Jerry resisted the urge to scowl. He patted Morty’s head.

“There’s no such thing as monsters. I promise.”

* * *

An hour passed and Morty was still wide awake in bed, constantly surveying his room. He was in an endless loop of checking his surroundings, feeling the slightest momentary relief that nothing was there, before checking another part of the room.

Morty nearly screamed when the door open. But he relaxed as soon as he saw it was Rick. The purple light gave a weird hue to his light blue hair, and it made his lab coat look lilac.

“I figured you were still awake,” Rick sounded sheepish and guilty.

“Monsters aren’t real, right Rick?” Morty needed to hear it. If Rick, the smartest man in the world, told him that, then he would believe it.

Meanwhile, Rick stewed inside his mind. He had seen countless alien creatures that could only be described as monsters. Something that would chase you in the dark, or drink your blood dry, or deliberately wait until you were asleep to devour you whole.

Rick didn’t think it was practical to lie to Morty about these things. The kid was going to find out eventually anyway. Why delay the inevitable? And what if Morty resented him for lying when he grew up?

“…Rick? Monsters aren’t real, right?”

What could he do?

Rick sat down on the edge of the bed, then looked Morty in the eye. He had it all planned out what he was going to say. Yes, they were real. But they were planets away, so they couldn’t hurt him. Yes, they were real, but Rick would keep him safe. Yes, they were real. But they had plenty of bigger people to eat that they wouldn’t waste their time with Morty.

“No, they’re not real,” Rick said. He had no idea why he said it, until he saw the relief flashing over Morty’s face and realized _oh, that’s why._

Finally, Morty lied back down on his pillow. Now that the adrenaline from his terror was gone, he suddenly felt very tired. In just a few seconds, he was fast asleep. Rick patted his head.

“Goodnight, Morty.”


	5. Chapter 5

One of the things Rick learned early in his parenting career, was that kids sometimes did things they weren’t supposed to just to see how long it would take you to notice. As a child, Beth would take his inventions and hide them all over the house. It didn’t take him long to figure out what she had done.

Of course, she didn’t help her case by giggling whenever he was around her.

When this happened, Rick did his best to ignore it for as long as possible. Which was why he was ignoring how Summer and Morty kept looking from their boardgame over at him, snickering to themselves every so often.

Rick kept his eyes glued to his desk. He screwed in a bolt inside a new invention, a visor over his eye to give him a better view. The kids were behind him. They were supposed to be keeping quiet with that game of theirs. But it looked like they were more interested in whatever mischief they gotten themselves into.

He ignored them for a little while. But then suddenly…it got quiet. Too quiet. There was nothing worse than when misbehaving children suddenly become silent. Rick turned around, and he nearly jumped out of his chair.

“My beaker!”

The brats somehow got their hands on it. Along with a bottle of shampoo, toothpaste, grape jam, sodas and ketchup. They had poured all that crap inside the glass. Summer stirred a spoon into it. She smiled when she got Rick’s attention.

“We’re making a love potion!”

“You’re _making_ a mess!” Rick ran up and grabbed the beaker off the table. He inspected it with a grimace. He would have to give it a good wash before he could use it again. Of course, it wasn’t like Rick couldn’t just get another one. But he formed attachments to the things that he owned. And he didn’t want to see it messed up by little twerps trying to play wizard.

Morty sensed Rick’s distress, which caused him to frown.

“We wanna be smart too.”

“Yeah. How come you’re smart, but we’re not? We’re family!” Summer glared at Rick, as if he sucked up their brainpower and took it all for himself.

Rick placed the beaker away from their reach. He heard this question before, from Beth when she was a little girl. He gave his grandchildren the same answer he had given her all those years ago.

“Genetics don’t guarantee things like genius level intelligence,” and then thinking of another reason, he smirked, “Also, I’m sure you two being Jerry’s kids didn’t help your chances.”

Summer didn’t react to that, but Morty gave his grandpa a cute scowl.

He said, “Don’t be mean to daddy.” He was such a little guard dog when it came to Jerry’s feelings. Rick resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He didn’t want to have that argument with his grandson again, so he dropped the topic.

“So anyway….don’t mess with my stuff.”

“But our love potion—”

“Get real Summer. You can’t put whatever you found in the kitchen sink and think it will make something. How is a combination of soda and toothpaste suppose to make someone fall in love?”

“We kissed the glass,” Summer insisted, as if that helped her case any.

“Kissed it. Now it’s full of love,” Morty added.

Oh, good lord. Why was Rick suddenly gushing? Why did his grandchildren’s complete ignorance of how the world work seem so cute? He couldn’t stay angry with them.

“That’s not how you make a love potion. If that’s what you guys want to make, first you need a sample of someone’s DNA.”

“DNA? What’s that?” Summer asked.

“The alphabet!” Morty proclaimed with a proud smile. He was happy with himself for ‘knowing the answer.’

“Nu uh! That’s ABC! DNA must be something that makes explosions.”

“You’re both wrong. It stands for deoxyribonuc—” and then he kicked himself. Why was he trying to explain this shit to them? “Look, kids. Just play with your board game and stay outta trouble.”

“Play with us!”

Rick arched a brow and an amused smirk, “You ordering me around, Morty?”

“No. I’m just telling you what to do.”

“Oh, gee. Now it’s a WHOLE lot different,” Rick chuckled.

Summer took out the pieces of the Candyland knockoff.

“I’m going to be the lollipop. Morty is the cake. And Rick is the gingerbread.”

Rick frowned at the way the gingerbread man was designed. A stereotypical old guy with a long frosting beard.

“So this is what you think of me as? An old wise man?”

“We don’t think you’re wise,” Summer said.

“Well then. I don’t think you’re cute.”

Summer stuck his tongue at him. Rick took the dice and rolled a five, placing his character the same number of spaces on the board. Hopefully, giving his grandchildren some attention would stop them from being little shits.

For the time being.


	6. Chapter 6

Morty tugged on his dad’s arm sleeve, taking his attention from the ballgame playing on the tv. His dad beamed down at him. He noticed Morty was holding something.

“Hey, buddy. What’cha got there?” he asked kindly.

Morty smiled and showed him the macaroni art he had made. He had been so excited that he didn’t wait for it to completely dry. When he held it up, the pieces had trouble staying in place.

Jerry took it in his hands.

“Wow! That’s amazing,” from the other end of the couch, Rick scoffed. Jerry shot him a look, before turning his warm eyes back onto his son.

“Is it for me?”

Morty blinked a little as he pondered whether or not to give it to him. He had just wanted to show it to his dad, but if Jerry really wanted it, then Morty would be happy to give it to him. Morty nodded.

“Thank you, Morty. I’ll put it up on the fridge later.”

Rick scowled, “Later? What, you too busy to do it now, Jerry?”

Jerry glared at Rick. Morty frowned when he noticed the tension between the two adults. He wished they wouldn’t fight so much. Rick smirked at Jerry, like he found Jerry’s anger amusing.

“It’s not like you have a job or anything, Jerry. Just go and put it on the fridge.”

“I said I’d do it later.”

“Right. Because you’re such a busy man.”

Beth suddenly came into the room with her hands on her hips, “What’s going on here?” She reprimanded the two grown men like they were children.

“Your father is giving me unsolicited advice again.”

“Me?” Rick mocked surprised, placing a hand on his chest, “No, of course not. I would never give unsolicited advice. I was just telling him what to do. Morty gave him some macaroni art. The least he can do is get off his a—” he corrected himself when Beth glared at him, “—butt long enough to put it somewhere safe.”

“But the game….” Jerry frowned. He was being put on the spot, which wasn’t a situation he was good at dealing with. Beth rolled her eyes, then took Morty by the shoulder.

“Come on. Mommy will help you. And you two, stop fighting in front of Morty. You know it upsets him.”

With that, she guided her son into the kitchen. Morty watched as she placed the art on the fridge, snapping a magnet on top of it.

“Mommy. Why is Rick so mean to dad?” he asked. He had noticed that Rick sometimes said mean things to everyone. But he didn’t insult anyone nearly as much as he did with Jerry. Morty loved his dad and Rick both. He didn’t like the idea that they hated each other.

Beth turned to him with a sad smile, “Your grandpa and your dad….have their differences. But that’s something between them.” When she said something was between grown-ups, it meant that Morty wasn’t allowed to know the reason.

“Oh…okay…”

“But I’ll tell you one thing. I think you giving your dad this lovely piece of art,” she motioned toward it, “has made your grandpa jealous.”

“Jealous…What’s that?” there were some words Morty didn’t know yet. And sometimes he worried that he was _suppose_ to know them by now.

“Jealous is when you see someone have something you want. Grandpa Rick was mean to your dad because he was jealous that you gave your dad art and not him.”

“I hurted his feelings?” Morty gasped. He didn’t mean to do that!

Beth let out a soft laugh. She knelt down to face the young boy and kissed his forehead.

“He’ll get over it, Morty. Grandpa Rick doesn’t handle being jealous well. Next time you give your dad something…make sure Rick isn’t around, okay sweetheart?”

* * *

Morty had to stand up on his tippy-toes to reach the garage door handle. He managed to open it without help, feeling proud of himself.

Rick was hammering away at something. Whatever invention he was working on, he was getting annoyed with it. Rick mumbled a few curses under his breath. Morty knew he wasn’t supposed to repeat _those_ words.

Rick turned to him, “Morty, see that metal stick right by you?”

“This?” he grabbed onto a thing that had a strange hook on both ends.

“Yep. That would be my wrench. Bring it to me.”

Morty did as told. He grinned, feeling like he was being useful for the first time in his life. Rick thanked him, causing him to blush. Morty felt so happy.

Rick turned back around. If Morty didn’t get his attention soon, Rick would go back to messing with his invention.

“Ummm…..”

“Ummm…what?” Rick mocked good-naturedly.

Morty held up the artwork he made. The family had run out of macaroni, so he could only use crayon. Morty had spent hours trying to copy a picture of a spaceship. And although it didn’t look nearly as good as the one in the coloring book, Morty liked to think it looked good enough for his age.

Rick took it in his hand, looking confused.

“Um….good job, Morty,” he said it like he thought that was what he was supposed to say. Morty frowned. Did that mean he didn’t like it?

“It’s for you!”

“For me?” Rick’s eyes lit up. He glanced at the paper again, his expression unreadable. Morty couldn’t bear the silence any longer.

“Um….do you….like it?” he asked.

“Hell yeah!” Rick grinned from ear-to-ear. He held onto his chest as if Morty touched his heart, “Morty, this is amazing. You’re giving me a gift? I’m going to preserve it,” he pulled out a weird gun looking thing, then shot at the paper. The paper solidified into glass, but the art remained untouched. Rick petted Morty’s hair, “There. Now this art will stay intact for a hundred years. I’m going to keep right here. So, I can look at it when I work.”

Morty beamed with pride once more.


End file.
